The security lapses in Benghazi that led to the death of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans trace back to security decisions made in Washington. That's the message of a letter Rep. Darrell Issa sent to Secretary Clinton Tuesday. The letter indicates that the US mission in Libya made repeated request for increased security prior to the September 11th attack but that these requests were denied. Issa's House Oversight committee is planning a hearing on Wednesday, October 10, to investigate the failure.

Issa's letter is an effort to gather relevant information on security arrangements in Libya prior to the attack. In particular, Issa is requesting information on security requests from the Libyan Embassy and relevant documents on how those requests were handled. According to the letter, "multiple U.S. federal government officials have confirmed to the Committee that, prior to the September 11th attack, the U.S. mission in Libya made repeated requests for increased security in Benghazi. The mission in Libya, however, was denied these resources by officials in Washington."

The letter offers a partial timeline of attacks on western outposts in Tripoli and Benghazi which shows a pattern of targeting western diplomats and outposts. It also suggests the attacks were escalating in their boldness, i.e. late night attacks give way to strikes in broad daylight. What follows is summary of the incidents mentioned in Issa's letter:

•April 6, 2012 - An IED is thrown over the consulate fence in Benghazi.

•April 11, 2012 - A gun battle 4km from the Benghazi consulate.

•April 25, 2012 - A US Embassy guard in Tripoli is detained at a militia checkpoint.

•April 26, 2012 - A fistfight escalates into a gunfight at a Benghazi Medical University and a US Foreign Service Officer in attendance is evacuated.

•April 27, 2012 - Two South African contractors are kidnapped in Benghazi, questioned and released.

•May 1, 2012 - Deputy Commander of the local guard force in Tripoli is carjacked and beaten.

•June 2012 - A pro-Gaddafi Facebook page posts photos of Ambassador Stevens making his morning run in the city of Tripoli and made a threat toward the Ambassador.

•June 6, 2012 - An IED is left at the gate of the US consulate in Benghazi.

•June 10, 2012 - RPG is fired at the convoy carrying the British Ambassador in broad daylight as he is nearing the British consulate in Benghazi. No one is killed but the British later close the consulate.

•Late June, 2012 - Another attack on the Red Cross outpost in Benghazi, this one in daylight. The Red Cross pulls out leaving the US consulate the last western outpost in the city.

•August 6, 2012 - Attempted carjacking of a vehicle with US diplomatic plates in Tripoli.

•Weeks prior to Sept. 11, 2012 - Libyan guards at the Benghazi consulate are "warned by their family members to quit their jobs" because of rumors of a "impending attack."

While the list suggests a clear pattern it is far from complete. For instance, in April a bomb was thrown at a convoy carrying the head of the UN mission to Libya as he traveled through Benghazi.

The letter requests a written response to three questions. Did the State Department know about all of the above attacks? What security arrangements were made in light of them? What requests did the Libyan Embassy make for additional security prior to September 11, 2012? Issa requests that a written answer be provided to the committee by Monday October 8th.

•June 2012 - A pro-Gaddafi Facebook page posts photos of Ambassador Stevens making his morning run in the city of Tripoli and made a threat toward the Ambassador.

•June 6, 2012 - An IED is left at the gate of the US consulate in Benghazi.

•June 10, 2012 - RPG is fired at the convoy carrying the British Ambassador in broad daylight as he is nearing the British consulate in Benghazi. No one is killed but the British later close the consulate.

•Late June, 2012 - Another attack on the Red Cross outpost in Benghazi, this one in daylight. The Red Cross pulls out leaving the US consulate the last western outpost in the city.

•August 6, 2012 - Attempted carjacking of a vehicle with US diplomatic plates in Tripoli.

•Weeks prior to Sept. 11, 2012 - Libyan guards at the Benghazi consulate are "warned by their family members to quit their jobs" because of rumors of a "impending attack."

White House press secretary Jay Carney declined to comment on an assertion by the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that requests from diplomats in Libya for added security prior to the September 11, 2012 attack on the diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, were denied.

“I’m not going to get into a situation under review by the State Department and the FBI,” Carney said.

Earlier today, chairman of the committee Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, the chair of the subcommittee on national security, homeland defense, and foreign operations, wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asserting that “multiple U.S. federal government officials have confirmed to the Committee that, prior to the September 11 (2012) attack, the U.S. mission in Libya made repeated requests for increased security in Benghazi. The mission in Libya, however, was denied these requests by officials in Washington.”

The two congressmen also listed thirteen incidents leading up to the attack – ranging from I.E.D. and RPG attacks to a “posting on a pro-Gaddafi Facebook page” publicizing early morning runs taken by the late Ambassador Chris Stevens and his security detail around Tripoli.

“Was State Department headquarters in Washington aware of all the above incidents?” they asked Secretary Clinton, requesting written responses by October 8. “If not, why not?”

“If so, what measures did the State Department take to match the level of security provided to the U.S. Mission in Libya to the level of threat?” they asked. The two also asked for details of “any requests made by Embassy Tripoli to State Department headquarters for additional security, whether in general or in light of specific attacks” detailed in the letter.

Carney said that “embassy security is a matter that is in the purview of the State Department,” and noted that “Secretary Clinton instituted an accountability review that is underway as we speak” while the investigation of the attack itself is being conducted by the FBI.

The press secretary said that “from the moment our facility was attacked” the president has been focused on providing security to all diplomatic posts “and bringing the killers to justice.”

About the list of security issues, Carney said it was a “known fact that Libya is in transition” and that in the eastern part of Libya in particular there are militant groups and “a great number of armed individuals and militias.”

Carney made his comments in an off-camera gaggle in Las Vegas, Nevada. President Obama is in nearby Henderson, Nevada, preparing for his fist debate with Mitt Romney, to be held Wednesday night.

Two House Republicans say they have been informed by whistleblowers that the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was attacked and threatened 13 times before the incident last month that killed four Americans.

Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a letter on Tuesday that detailed the whistleblowers’ allegations.

“Based on information provided to the Committee by individuals with direct knowledge of events in Libya, the attack that claimed the ambassador’s life was the latest in a long line of attacks on Western diplomats and officials in Libya in the months leading up to September 11, 2012,” Issa and Chaffetz wrote. “It was clearly never, as Administration officials once insisted, the result of a popular protest."

The congressmen said the consulate asked for more security to deal with the growing threat but was turned down by the administration.

“In addition, multiple U.S. federal government officials have confirmed to the Committee that, prior to the September 11 attack, the U.S. mission in Libya made repeated requests for increased security in Benghazi. The mission in Libya, however, was denied these resources by officials in Washington.”

The two lawmakers told Clinton they intend to convene a hearing of Issa’s House Oversight panel on Oct. 10 to review possible security failures in Libya, including “State Department security assessments and security related decision making.”

The letter from the congressmen for the first time reveals an April 6 attack against the Consulate in which two former security guards threw homemade improvised explosives over the fence of the compound.

The letter also says militants made no secret of their intention to target Americans in Libya.

On May 22, a warning message was posted on Facebook that a rocket-propelled grenade attack against the Red Cross offices in Benghazi would be followed by a “message for the Americans disturbing the skies over Derna.” A separate threat was made the following month against Ambassador Christopher Stevens that mentioned his morning run with a security detail, complete with a photo of the late ambassador.

Stevens and three other Americans were killed in a Sept. 11 attack on the consulate. The Obama administration initially blamed the attack on militants who acted spontaneously and used protests against an anti-Islam video posted online as cover.

But the administration has shifted its account, with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper calling it a “deliberate and organized terrorist attack” on Friday.

Republicans say the administration’s account has been misleading. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and other GOP lawmakers believe the attack was premeditated, and argue the administration has played that possibility down because it could hurt President Obama’s reelection effort.

— This story was first posted at 9:48 a.m. and has been updated.

_________________________________________

Funny - when Fury had his thread going and a few us us were for keeping Gadafi in power we were ridiculued by Andre benny 180 et al.

•June 2012 - A pro-Gaddafi Facebook page posts photos of Ambassador Stevens making his morning run in the city of Tripoli and made a threat toward the Ambassador.

•June 6, 2012 - An IED is left at the gate of the US consulate in Benghazi.

•June 10, 2012 - RPG is fired at the convoy carrying the British Ambassador in broad daylight as he is nearing the British consulate in Benghazi. No one is killed but the British later close the consulate.

•Late June, 2012 - Another attack on the Red Cross outpost in Benghazi, this one in daylight. The Red Cross pulls out leaving the US consulate the last western outpost in the city.

•August 6, 2012 - Attempted carjacking of a vehicle with US diplomatic plates in Tripoli.

•Weeks prior to Sept. 11, 2012 - Libyan guards at the Benghazi consulate are "warned by their family members to quit their jobs" because of rumors of a "impending attack."

no, i'm seeing "Issa’s House Oversight panel" which has taken what 18 months to get nowhere with F&F?

Sorry, but I've lost faith in that dude's ability to even catch a cold. He has holder on video lying and can't make a case. Issa = fail. get another person leading the investigation so we can see some results before 2014, please!!!

CNN reported a new bombshell in the ongoing Libya fiasco on Monday night, while the networks had already moved on from the story. CNN's Erin Burnett disclosed that "key intelligence" was left out of the post-Libya narrative given to the American public. The networks made no mention of Libya all day Monday and through Tuesday morning after being late to new developments in the story.

"[T]here were a decision made as to some of these key things that obviously are now considered to be crucial to this – essential to this attack were left out of the briefing points given to Congress and given to the American people," Burnett reported.

Burnett added that an "intelligence expert" told CNN that "the key information left out of the talking points can only mean the administration is covering something up." This story is a new development on the previous narrative, where the Obama administration's initial explanation for the attacks did not match up with U.S. intelligence which had , and evolved since the attacks.

However, CNN reported with certainty that not only were the attacks planned, but this information was withheld from the ensuing administration narrative. The networks did not report this story on Tuesday morning.

The networks were also late to the prior story that U.S. intelligence had "strong indications" within a day after the embassy attacks that they were planned and carried out by al Qaeda affiliates. The Daily Beast report on U.S. intelligence aired early Wednesday morning on September 26, yet it took until Thursday night for ABC to report it. As of Friday morning, NBC and CBS had not reported it.

On Friday night, NBC aired two full stories on the matter. Both NBC and CBS reported on the story on Saturday and all three networks mentioned Libya on Sunday, with NBC's David Gregory talking about it in detail with Obama adviser David Plouffe.

CNN reported a new bombshell in the ongoing Libya fiasco on Monday night, while the networks had already moved on from the story. CNN's Erin Burnett disclosed that "key intelligence" was left out of the post-Libya narrative given to the American public. The networks made no mention of Libya all day Monday and through Tuesday morning after being late to new developments in the story.

"[T]here were a decision made as to some of these key things that obviously are now considered to be crucial to this  essential to this attack were left out of the briefing points given to Congress and given to the American people," Burnett reported.

Burnett added that an "intelligence expert" told CNN that "the key information left out of the talking points can only mean the administration is covering something up." This story is a new development on the previous narrative, where the Obama administration's initial explanation for the attacks did not match up with U.S. intelligence which had , and evolved since the attacks.

However, CNN reported with certainty that not only were the attacks planned, but this information was withheld from the ensuing administration narrative. The networks did not report this story on Tuesday morning.

The networks were also late to the prior story that U.S. intelligence had "strong indications" within a day after the embassy attacks that they were planned and carried out by al Qaeda affiliates. The Daily Beast report on U.S. intelligence aired early Wednesday morning on September 26, yet it took until Thursday night for ABC to report it. As of Friday morning, NBC and CBS had not reported it.

On Friday night, NBC aired two full stories on the matter. Both NBC and CBS reported on the story on Saturday and all three networks mentioned Libya on Sunday, with NBC's David Gregory talking about it in detail with Obama adviser David Plouffe.

look at this article from newsbusters. Dedicated to complaining that the media is not covering the topics the author wants.

They're private companies that covers whatever gets viewers to stay tuned. They're not honorable, they're not devoted to some noble cause. They're driven by profit. They don't have morals.

I don't understand why complain about it. You don't complain that your mailbox doesn't make toast - because that is NOT THE ROLE of your mailbox. The media companies are NOT here to deliver truth or anything else. They're here to make money. Sell ad revenue. That's it. FOX has no obligation to show negative things about Mitt, and MSNBC has nothing obligated to show bad things about obama.

MITT will have the floor tomorrow. He can talk about F&F, Libya, or anything else. THAT is the dude with an obligation to point out his opponent's flaws - not some media enteretainment company that also believes polar bears breaking into grocery stores are more important than other news items (they all do it - that car chase on FOX this week wasn't more important than their spring break drinking news piece lol....)

Can't hate on ANY media org for not covering certain topics. They make their choices based upon what their viewers want.

Report: Obama Admin Rejected Military Intervention in Benghazi During Attack

by AWR Hawkins2 Oct 201296post a comment

According to the Wall Street Journal, as the attack on the U.S. consulate was raging, Obama took a "wait and see" approach.

Ninety minutes after news of the attack reached Washington, Obama, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, JCS Chair General Martin Dempsey, and a national security adviser convened for an oval office meeting in which they ultimately rejected the course of U.S. military intervention. Instead, they decided to reach out to the Libyan government to ask if they would send reinforcements.

When the U.S. personnel at the consulate left the main building for what was supposed to be a safe house, questions regarding the deployment of forces seemed moot.

But the battle was still raging, and Ambassador Stevens' life was close to its end.

In hindsight, anonymous officials privy to details of those Sept. 11 decisions asked why we didn't at least send aircraft from the U.S. base in Sicily -- which is less than 500 miles away from Benghazi. The line of thinking is that that such a show of force might have given the attackers second thoughts.

There goes Hilary's 2016 chance right out the window, got to wonder why she hitched her wagon to this cluster fuck

Hilary will be 70 or something, right? SHe's not going to run in 2016. There will be some young rock star. she will get the taste of private life and she's gonna LOOK 70 at that point. takes a lot of energy to campaign. She would be an amazingly safe veep pick tho.

Hilary will be 70 or something, right? SHe's not going to run in 2016. There will be some young rock star. she will get the taste of private life and she's gonna LOOK 70 at that point. takes a lot of energy to campaign. She would be an amazingly safe veep pick tho.

Hilary will be 70 or something, right? SHe's not going to run in 2016. There will be some young rock star. she will get the taste of private life and she's gonna LOOK 70 at that point. takes a lot of energy to campaign. She would be an amazingly safe veep pick tho.